LOW COUNTRIES. Breda. Siege by the Spanish, 1624-1625. Nooddaalder van 40 Stuivers January 1625 (Silver, 25 mm, 8.69 g), Breda. BREDA•OBSESSA•1625 Crowned coat of arms, punched in value '40' above, rose below and city arms left and right. Rev. Blank. Brause-Mansfeld 16, 12. Delmonte 322. Mailliet 17, 13. Vanhoudt 678. Rare. Nicely toned. Weakly struck, otherwise, very fine.


The Siege of Breda (1624–1625) was a major engagement during the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War, in which Spanish forces under General Ambrogio Spinola besieged the Dutch city of Breda. The siege lasted from August 1624 to June 1625 and ended in a Spanish victory. Despite fierce resistance by the Dutch garrison led by Justin of Nassau, the prolonged blockade, starvation, and disease forced the city's surrender. The siege became famous for the strategic brilliance of Spinola and was later immortalized in Diego Velázquez’s painting La rendición de Breda (The Surrender of Breda), symbolizing chivalry and military honor.

However, the siege also ended in misery and death for both the besiegers and the besieged. Though victorious, the Spanish forces suffered heavy losses, leaving them severely weakened. The cost of the campaign was so great that the military gains proved short-lived: Breda was recaptured by the Dutch in 1637. The siege thus stands as a stark reminder of the human toll of war, even amid moments of tactical or symbolic triumph.